AREVI

EW OFKAYLATAYLOR'
S'THECANARI
ESAMONGUS'
.

Ineverknewt hatthereissuchat hi
ngasapsy chologicalnovel
.Kay l
aTaylor's'
CanariesAmong
Us'isindeedamast erpiece.Tome, itisaspeci algi
ft,forIdonotonlyseemy selfi
nit,Ial
sof eel
seen.Tobeseeni stobehear d, t
obeacknowl edged,andt obeloved.Andt hisisahuger eli
ef.
Kay l
aTay l
ortell
sav eryinspi
ri
ngst or yofherdaught er,Hannah,who, att
heageofei ght,i
s
beingbulli
edatschool byherpeer s,Dani ell
aandLaur en.Hannahisdiagnosedwi t
hsituat
ional
anxiety,
acondi t
ionthatmakesheruni que.Shei shighlysensit
iveandovertlyprecocious,
possessingaweal thofv ocabularythatsur pri
sesadul tsandbefuddlesherpeer s.Kaylaandher
husband, Ji
m, areunhappyt olearnthatt heirdaughterisbeingbulli
edatschool .

Global Citi
zensAcademyi sknownf oritspr i
ncipl
est hatdonotcondonesuchat hingasbul lyi
ng,
butt hosepr inci
ples,Kay lalaterdiscov ers,arenotpr acti
cal butonlyremai natt hel evelofwor ds.
Onhermeet ingwi ththeschool head, Richard,Kaylai sdisappointedi nthewayhet ri
viali
sedthe
mat terbycompar i
ngt hebul lyandt hev i
ctimt otwoencl osedgol df
ishinhi sof fi
ce.Inherquest
toensur eherdaught er '
ssaf ety,Kaylameet sHannah' steacher ,
Leslie,whoseemst o
under standt hesituati
on.Lesl i
emakesherbel i
evet hatther eisahopeofpr eventingrepeated
attacksi rr
espectiveofRi char d'sindif
ferenceshr oudedi nf akepromi sesof" handl i
ng"it.Butthe
bullyingintensif
ied.Itisatt hispoi ntthatKay l
adiscov ershowt wo-facedpeopl ecanbe.Thi s
propel shert oconductsev eral r
esear chesont hesubj ect.Shedi scov er
st hatev engoodpeopl e,
ort hosewhot rulybelievethatt heyar egoodpeopl e,can, undersomeci rcumst ances, dobad
thi
ngs, perhapsbecauset heyar econst r
ainedbydut y,r
eput ati
onorsomeot herfactorsbey ond
theircont r
ol.

GlobalCiti
zensAcademypr omisestodosomet hingtocur bthesi t
uat i
onaf t
erKaylawritesa
l
ettert
ot heboar d,buttheschooli
smor eworri
edabouti t
sreput ati
on.Theboar dhiresal awy er
,
Howar d,whopr omisest odosomei nvesti
gati
onbutendsup' gaslighti
ng'Kayla.Howardwr it
es
alett
erf r
aughtwi t
hl i
es,di
smissi
ngt heclai
msanddeny i
ngt heincident sofbull
y.Ji
m who
recei
vedt helett
erasksKay l
anottor eaditbutshel aterdoesandi sinfuri
atedbythecont ents.
Thisexposeshert ot henuancesofseekingjustice.Theyev entuall
ywi thdrawHannahf rom GCA
andenr olherinaschool whereheruniquequalitiesarecelebrated.Theyal sodiscoverthattheir
secondchi l
d,Jake,hasdy sl
exi
aandf i
ndanothersui t
ableschool f
orhim whi l
etheyenrollTheo,
theyoungestchi l
d,intoapubli
cschool .

Kayl
al aterdi
scov er
sinthecourseofherresearch,thatHannahneedsheal i
ng.Andf orthi
sto
happen,sheneedst opourouthermindtot heoffender.Whenshei snotabletospeakt o
Lauren,shemeet sherfatherandwiththehelpofKay la,wasabletospeaktoLaur en'
sfather
fr
om whom t heyareabl
et oexactanapologyafterKay l
alendshervoicet
ot hatofherterr
ifi
ed
daughter.Jimi shappytohearthi
sandassur esKay l
at hatHannahhasatlast,seenhermot her
fi
ghtforher .

Kay l
aTay lorusescanarytosymbol i
se, notonlyHannah,butalsomanychi ldrenl i
keher .
Except i
onal chi
ldrenwho,i
nsteadofbei ngcelebrat
edfortheirdiff
erentstrengt hs,arebeingi
l
l-
treatedfort hei
rweaknessesundert hewat chofcomplacentadul t
s.Theaut hornav igates
throught hehumani ti
esofhercharact er
s,thei
rgoodandbadsi des.Hannah, despitebeing
bulli
edatschool ,
atapointbecomesabul lytoherbrot
her,Jake.Shei salsoconcer nedabout
theot hervicti
msofbul l
y.Kayl
a'sf
riendsandev enLesl
iewhopr omisedtohel pout,hadt o
wi t
hdrawatapoi ntwherethei
rpositionsandt heschool
'simagemat ter
edmor ethant he
fri
endship.
Theauthoralsoexposest hei mpor t
anceofl istening.Shepor t
raysli
steningasanactthat
makesv i
cti
msf eel t
hatt heymat ter
,thattheyar eseen, andthattheyareheard.Buttheir
sisa
soci
etythati
sal way sdi smi ssive,unwill
ingtol i
stent otheminori
tywhot heyconsider"di
sabl
ed"
.
Ial
sofindinterestingt hewayshecor rectstheuseofl anguageindiscussingpsychol
ogical
matter
s.Shel earnsi nherr esear ch,t
hepr eferreduseof" lear
ningdiff
erences"i
nsteadof
"l
earni
ngdisabili
ties"whent alkingaboutmat terslikedyslexi
a.Thisstri
psitofthesti
gma
att
achedtoit,hencer eli
evingt hosewhohav eitofi mposedshame.

WhatIfi
ndmoststr
iki
ngisthepartwhereshedrawsalinkbet
weenapol ogyandforgiv
eness,
andhowtheyaref
actor
stoagenui ner
econci
li
ationpr
ocess.Asincereapologyi
sbornof
cont
ri
ti
onandadesiret
orepairwhathasbeendamaged, andf
orgivenessisaresponsetoit
s
demonstr
ati
on.

Myr at
ingoft hebooki
sfi
veoutoffiv
estar
s.I
tisexcept
ional
,educat
ive,
andbeauti
ful
l
ywr i
tt
en.
Theaut horusesasimpl
elanguage,
givi
ngnoroom t
oambi gui
ti
es.Thi
sisanovelIwil
llov
eto
readagain.

Wr
it
tenbyChi
bui
keNkur
umeh